Reader's Digest Great Events of the 20th Century: How They Changed Our Lives

by Reader's Digest Association

Illustrated accounts of momentous events that have affected the lives of thousands of people take note of scientific and technological advances, major historical incidents, developments in the arts, great personalities, and widespread fads and fashions

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference

543 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1977

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a very strong influence on me as a young adult- from it I gained a wide perspective on US and world history...beautifully conveys a sense of history through short topics (4-5 page) presented with numerous full color pictures and highly illustrative maps - maps for both World Wars are especially good. Each decade includes a section on the arts (I recall a focus on the challenges of Joyce's Ulysses), science & technology, etc. Despite stopping in '77 (a lot happened from '00 to '77...), this is still a wonderful book for historically curious adults, but especially for advanced young adult readers / adolescents. The sense conveyed by this book of where we stand in the sweep of history, as well as awareness of the trails of the tumultuous 20th century, cannot be praised enough, IMHO.

[C.E. Crowder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might be among the last people on Earth who will ever read this book from cover to cover: a fifty-year-old Canadian popular history text that had the gall to give itself this title in 1977 when the last quarter century still lay ahead. It appears there was no interest in updating it for the 1999/2000 era, when retrospective coffee books of this size and calibre were a brief rage. Evidence suggests it was a hasty effort to make a quick buck but at least it wasn't slapdash, as proven by its quality selection of photos, elaborately presented maps and diagrams and its broad, well-edited coverage.

My primary motive in tackling it now was having grown up with it in my parents' home, and many childhood memories of having flipped through its pages while thinking "someday I'm gonna read this whole thing." Now I've done it, and the deed was not without reward. It covers its selection of great events as a series of essays on every subject from the period that you might find in a game of trivia (except that it almost completely ignores sports.) The language is always accessible, mostly high-level with an occasional swoop into interesting details. I learned some intriguing bits and delved into some interesting subject matter that my curiosity hadn't yet led me to. The years covered included everything from the history of modern Israel to the roots of our computerized world to the rise of popular music and cinema. Fifty years on has lent more perspective and knowledge about some of these topics, but it's still a fine grounding in the backstory of our world today.

Minus points for the 1970s perspective and the peculiar categorization of ESP and UFOs among serious science studies (wherein it quotes Carl Sagan in precisely the way he didn't like.) A big plus for the conclusion, which lands on the environmental movement and the challenge of taking collective action or all perishing together. It is a dare from half a century ago to state the choice we've made.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

ms ot I am not done yet reading great events of the 20th century by the reader's digest. I do not know if i like the book yet because i have not read it . And because I have not finished I don't have a favorite caratear and t is a history book thair is litoley 600 pages. each page has someone new. This book has so many quotes that it is hard to cos one.”and both the u,s,s,r, And the united states the twocompleatters -the space race and the arms race- became essential rivals.” I like this quote because of the fact that this is wean the u,s and soviet union became arch enemy. This Book is varey egacashanele becas it is a history book and that for someone like me that is great but more than not I got bored and this book has tons of pichearchrs or the right biotears ww1 ww2 the 20s the korean war the atomic ara the space age and the 90s. It doesn't get better then that.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a while reading it again in small, infrequent bits, but have finally finished what I like to call “Great Events of the First 3/4 of the 20th Century.” Which is exactly what it is, having events up through 1976. A lot of interest inside, however, to be sure.

[Cws]

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